1
2Clinical Trials Unit, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
In 1954, Haldane and Spurway published a paper in which they discussed the information content of the honey bee waggle dance with regard to the ideas of Norbert Wiener, who had recently developed a formal theory of information. We return to this concept by reanalyzing the information content in both vector components (direction, distance) of the waggle dance using recent empirical data from a study that investigated the accuracy of the dance. Our results show that the direction component conveys 2.9 bits and the distance component 4.5 bits of information, which agrees to some extent with Haldane and Spurway s estimates that were based on data gathered by von Frisch. Of course, these are small amounts of information compared to what can be conveyed, given enough time, by human language, or compared to what is routinely transferred via the internet. Nevertheless, small amounts of information can be very valuable if it is
Lead author Sarah Rothman, a graduate student in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland College Park, says, Our study is the first in Baltimore to document how West Nile virus infection in mosquitoes varies relative to neighborhood socioeconomics. Knowing where mosquito abundances are high, and what diseases they carry, can help focus surveillance and management programs where they re needed most.
Mosquito-borne disease is a growing threat in cities throughout the U.S. Vacant lots and abandoned buildings can create environmental conditions that bolster mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Overgrown vegetation, standing water for breeding, and access to blood-meals from rodents, cats, and birds can put nearby residents at risk of contracting mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, chikungunya, and West Nile viruses.
Higher risk of West Nile virus infection in low-income urban neighborhoods in Baltimore
In Baltimore, Maryland, people living in low-income urban neighborhoods are more at risk of contracting West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne disease, than people living in more affluent neighborhoods. So reports a new study published in the
Journal of Medical Entomology.
Lead author Sarah Rothman, a graduate student in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland College Park, says, Our study is the first in Baltimore to document how West Nile virus infection in mosquitoes varies relative to neighborhood socioeconomics. Knowing where mosquito abundances are high, and what diseases they carry, can help focus surveillance and management programs where they re needed most.
Revamping Federal Climate Science
December 15, 2020, 5:00 am Getty/Liu Shiping/Xinhua
Sam Hananel
Ari Drennen
Introduction and summary
The United States has been the global leader in climate science for decades. Unfortunately, progress has slowed and in some cases, even moved backward over the past four years, with the Trump administration dismantling core elements of the federal climate science apparatus. As the country and the planet head toward an increasingly unstable climate, the U.S. government needs to get back to the business of being the preeminent source of trusted applied science that supports climate change mitigation and adaptation decision-making of governments and civilian stakeholders.
Plastic clean-up brings crocodiles back to Indian river
Crocodiles are not Sneha Shahi’s favourite animal, but every time she sees one now she smiles. And she sees plenty.
Sneha led a campaign to clean up the filthy river, stuffed with plastic waste, that winds its way through the campus of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat, India. Ridding the river of plastic had an unexpected outcome – bringing crocodiles back.
“We used to joke about how there can be a crocodile in our college’s stream, ‘it s not possible, it s not safe!’ Then we realized it
not being there was the issue … not the other way around. It s his habitat and we’ve ruined it and we ought to do whatever we can to revive this ecosystem,” she told the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in an interview.